


The Legend of Yin and Yang

by RekkingPride



Category: Naruto
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, F/M, Genderbending, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 12:29:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6704620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RekkingPride/pseuds/RekkingPride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was one meeting. The simple beginnings of a young friendship which began before the wheels of destiny began to turn. How could one meeting between two individuals who are destined to fight change all of shinobi history? Watch as the heirs of two powerful wills forge their destiny and make their mark on the Elemental Nations! Naru/Fem!Sasu!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Just a quick note. Some japanese terms that some people may not be familiar with are used. So here are the definitions really quickly.
> 
> Dobe = "Loser" or "Dead-last"
> 
> Usuratonkachi = Basically calling someone else "Useless"
> 
> Teme = Very rude and disrespectful way to say "You"
> 
> Also, this is a Naru/femSasu story.
> 
> That is all! :P

An elderly man with a heavily wrinkled face and a goatee was sitting in his office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was relaxing, smoking his lovely pipe and enjoying his time away from the bane of all kage...

Paperwork.

Seriously, no worse enemy than that.

You can burn enemy ninjas with powerful fire jutsu.

Paperwork? Nope.

So it was understandable that the elderly man was a bit happy and content with life at the moment.

He looked out of his window to watch the villagers of the Leaf go about their business, all under the watchful eyes of the Hokage Monument.

He looked up to admire the structure, shaped in the faces of all previous kage...and in his case...former successor.

At least...he would have admired it. Kind of impossible to do that when it has been defaced.

He blew out smoke from his pipe...damn it...there goes his pleasant afternoon.

He knew exactly who was responsible for this.

His name was...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"UZUMAKI NARUTO! GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT YOU BRAT!"

"No way! What's the problem anyways!? Just clean it up and it's as good as new!"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

This was the exchange between a relatively short boy wearing orange clothing and a chūnin chasing after said small boy.

The chūnin was Umino Iruka; a teacher at the Ninja Academy...and part-time catcher of the infamous Uzumaki Naruto.

He was possibly the only ninja in the Leaf that could catch the little ball of energy and trouble.

Today was no exception.

The two weaved through the streets, up top buildings, and even over a woman's garden, much to her horror.

The young boy tried to lose his sensei by running towards an alleyway while pushing himself through a crowd, making his sensei lose sight of him.

He grinned as he saw his sensei run past the alleyway he has hidden himself in, the big idiot had no idea!

"...Did you really expect me to fall for that Naruto?" a certain sensei's voice drawled behind the orange-loving boy.

Naruto froze up.

Ah damn...

Next thing the young boy knew, he was bopped upside the head and was getting dragged across the streets towards the Academy. Listening to his sensei's rants along the way.

Such was life for Uzumaki Naruto.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto was eventually dragged back to the Academy and was sitting down at one of the desks, trying his best to alternatively ignore and/or listen to his sensei's words.

He genuinely liked Iruka-sensei...but he had a hard time listening to him drone on and on...

Besides, it didn't matter. It was his performance out on the field that mattered! So what if he failed a test or two? He'd still be Hokage dattebayo!

"Naruto! Are you listening to me!?"

The young blond blinked, he looked down to see that Iruka-sensei was glaring up at him with an annoyed scowl.

What? He didn't do anything yet!

"...I am doing a surprise test on hand seals. I called you down so that I could test your knowledge." Iruka said with a sigh.

The whiskered boy nodded and then jumped up top his desk, ignoring the indignant cries of his classmates and hopped over towards the front of the classroom.

He gave his sensei a cheeky grin at his performance.

Iruka didn't look amused.

"Alright...now that Naruto is here, we can continue with the demonstration." Iruka continued, as if he hadn't just seen the orange-clad boy jump over his classmates.

He glanced at his clipboard in order to ascertain who would be doing the exercise along with the dead-last of the class...

He groaned. He thought what he was about to do was a smart idea in spurring Naruto to do better...but at the moment he was just questioning his sanity.

"...Naruto's partner in this exercise is Uchiha Sasuko. Please come up to the front." Iruka droned, dreading the reaction of the hyperactive blond.

Said blond grinned.

"I see what you're doing Iruka-sensei...you sly dog you." Naruto said with a sly grin on his face, as if sharing a secret.

The teacher gave him a deadpanned expression, Naruto definitely had no idea why he did this.

"You're giving me the chance to prove myself against that damned Sasuko, right? I knew you had faith in me. No need to be shy! I'm going to be Hokage after all." Naruto claimed while giving his teacher an understanding look.

No. He totally didn't understand at all.

As Naruto was apparently patronizing his teacher, Sasuko left her seat and walked towards the front of the class.

She was a pretty girl at age twelve, unusually long black hair pooled over towards the middle of her back and sharp features gave people the impression that she was a bit of an ice queen.

They couldn't be more right.

But it was also very cool to the young children at the Academy.

A pretty girl that was the best in class...and acted like she didn't have the time of day to talk to any of them?

That was cool right?

Regardless, the young girl was walking towards the front of the room with an indifferent expression.

Once she arrived, she stood at the ready. Ignoring the irritating blond next to her.

Iruka decided that he should start the lesson.

"Ok you two. I'm going to call out specific hand seals, once I do...you will show me what they are. Understood?"

Both students nodded, one with cool indifference and the other with heated determination.

The teacher turned to his best student first.

"Show me the hand seal for 'Boar', Sasuko." Iruka asked.

She quickly and efficiently raised both fists to her front and horizontal to her body. Then she twisted both hands upside-down and clasped the fingers against one another.

A perfect 'Boar' hand seal.

The class clapped politely, expecting this from the best in class.

Iruka then turned to Naruto, praying that he would manage to get the seal correct.

"Naruto...show me the seal for 'Bird'."

The young boy crunched his face up, seemingly looking through his memory banks to find what the seal looked like.

Then his eyes lit up in recognition.

The teacher's eyes widened as well, did he remember...?

Naruto raised one hand up to his front...

Then he raised the middle finger.

"Bird!" the blond troublemaker chirped.

The room exploded into laughter as Iruka felt a vein burst in his head.

"...Naaaarrrruuuuutttttooooo...!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto was pouting. He had a large lump on the crown of his head, courtesy of an irate sensei.

How cruel! This was child abuse!

Mercifully for the whiskered boy, the bell rang and he was allowed to escape the horrible building of boredom.

"Naruto! I need to speak to you after class!" Iruka called out. This brought up the snickering of his classmates, assuming that the class clown was in trouble again.

Damn it, they were probably right.

The rest of the students filed out of the classroom in droves, much to the young boy's annoyance.

There was one person who stayed behind, at least for a little while.

It was his self-proclaimed rival; Uchiha Sasuko.

She was staring at him, seemingly curious about something...like one would regard a strange animal at the zoo.

"...What do you want?" Naruto asked grumpily, annoyed at her stare.

The young girl continued to regard him with deep black eyes, unresponsive to his question.

Then she smirked, but the smirk wasn't of the friendly variety...no, if anything it was mocking.

He didn't like that smirk.

"Usuratonkachi."

He was gonna punch her.

He got off from his seat to do just that, but before he could follow through...

"Naruto! Get over here!" Iruka called out, trying to stop the fight from breaking out before it began.

Sasuko continued to give the blond a cold smirk as he stormed towards his sensei...damn it he wanted to punch her! She'd get hers eventually!

Once he arrived to the front of the classroom, his sensei spoke again.

"...Naruto. Why do you fight so much with Sasuko?" Iruka asked with a sigh.

Seriously, the two were like oil and water. It was usually Naruto who tried to instigate the fights, but Sasuko wouldn't exactly try to defuse the situation...

"That's because she always looks down on everyone! She thinks she's sooo much better than anyone else! I hate that! Heck, I bet she kicks puppies around in her spare time!" Naruto complained, crossing his arms in frustration.

Then he stopped, considering the idea.

He turned around to leave the classroom. "Hold on Iruka-sensei, I wanna test that idea out. I'm gonna find Kiba."

Iruka grabbed Naruto by the collar and gave him a deadpanned look, annoyed at how the little joker would switch topics so easily and try to escape, hyperactive in every way...

Then he sighed dramatically, it wasn't like Naruto was wrong about Sasuko...she did have an arrogance streak. But it wasn't like he could do anything about that...

But what he could do...

The teacher's eyes lit up.

He could try to stop their fights!

He glanced at the orange-clad boy for a moment, there was a very easy way to get them to stop fighting...at least for a limited amount of time. Besides, he was gonna task Naruto with an extra credit assignment anyways.

This would take down two birds with one stone.

"Hey Naruto...you do know that by this rate...you may not be able to take the graduation test right?" Iruka asked with a frown.

That got the blond's attention.

"Huh!? Why not!?" Naruto asked, horrified at the thought that he may not even be able get a chance of becoming a ninja!

The chūnin gave whiskered boy a look. "Your grades are abysmal. There is a grade requirement that has to be met before you could even take the graduation exam...you've taken it before haven't you? How do you not know about this...?"

The young boy waved the question away, focusing on the more important issue.

"But Iruka-sensei! I have to graduate! Is there something I could do to help my grades?" Naruto begged, hoping that he could do something to at least get to the graduation exam!

Iruka grinned, Operation: One Less Headache was a go!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The streets of Konoha was bustling with people, as usual. Consistently filled with people looking to shop, relax with friends, or on some kind of business.

Uchiha Sasuko cared for none of that.

She was ignoring the presence of everyone and everything around her, passing through so that she could get back to her home and train.

Business as usual for her.

She was a bit later than usual, she had to take care of a little something before she left the Academy...

The prankster of the Academy was annoying as usual, constantly all talk and no bite. No appreciable shinobi skills to speak of...

Yet he kept trying to defeat her in anything that she was involved with.

It was ridiculous and humiliating that he would consider himself her rival. So much so that she actively tried to discourage it, push him away so that she could concentrate on her true goal...

She supposed that instead of actively reacting to his boasts, she should do her best to ignore them entirely...? She did that before...why did she stop doing so she wondered?

Nevertheless, that was her active policy from now on.

Internal thoughts prioritized, she continued her trek towards her clan's original home...

"Heeeeey! Sasuko! Wait up!"

...Ignore it. She just made up her mind hadn't she? This would be the first test...maybe he would go away.

"Don't you fucking ignore me damn it!"

The Uchiha's eyebrow twitched as her irritation grew. What did she possibly do to deserve this?

She also remembered why she stopped ignoring him from before. He was practically impossible to ignore entirely, from his annoyingly bright clothes, to his annoyingly persistent personality.

Everything about him was annoying.

"...What do you want, dobe?"

"Don't call me that!" Naruto retorted angrily, he hated that name!

She raised a delicate eyebrow. "It's what you are, isn't it?"

The blond was about to angrily refute her words, before he stopped himself.

He wasn't here to start a fight. As much as he hated to admit it to her...let alone himself.

So he took a deep breathe, trying to rein in his temper as he prepped himself to ask the absolute impossible from his rival...

"...Sasuko. Please help me with an extra credit assignment!" Naruto cried out.

For a moment, the incredulity of the situation managed to break Sasuko's cold expression into that of shock. It was truly just that out of character for the blond.

The Uchiha managed to gather her wits about her after a moment's pause and schooled her expression accordingly.

Then she gave her answer.

"No. Now leave me alone." the young girl said gruffly, before turning away and heading towards home.

"Huh!? You're not even going to hear me out!? But this would be good for you also!" the whiskered boy claimed loudly, trying to convince the recalcitrant girl to reconsider.

She wouldn't budge, she snorted and kept moving forward. Completely disbelieving that there could be anything on the planet that would convince her to help him.

"Iruka-sensei said that while you have the best grades overall...that you are in danger of losing your number one status. Something about your grades in cooperation classes bringing your average down...? Anyways, if you work with me then it will help with that grade." Naruto explained, hoping that his words would be enough to convince her.

It wasn't.

The Uchiha clicked her tongue in annoyance. "...Tch. So what? Grades aren't important to me. I'm not going to help you."

"Oh come on, please? Pretty please? Pretty please with sugar on top?" Naruto begged, before turning serious for a moment. "But ramen is definitely not something that I will beg you with...you don't deserve ramen. You're too much of a bastard for that."

She felt like a vein was about to pop, such was her overwhelming annoyance at the idiot's actions. However, she was successful in ignoring him again, but she was suddenly stopped when she felt something grab her ankle with a fierce grip.

"No way! I can't accept no as an answer! My dream is riding on this! Help me!" the class clown cried out while gripping the young girl's ankle fiercely.

Once more, the Uchiha's indifferent expression was broken due to her incredulity of the blond's actions. She quickly began to try to shake off her hanger-on with all the might she could muster.

"Usuratonkachi! Let go! I'm not helping you! Get that through your thick skull!" Sasuko growled as she began to contemplate whether killing the dobe would be a viable option.

It was tempting at the moment.

"No way!"

"Let go!"

"No!"

"Let go before I stab you with my kunai!"

Naruto clenched his eyes shut as he held on with everything he had, determined to not let go. "Damn it Sasuko! Iruka-sensei said that you would definitely agree to this once you heard that you may not be number one anymore! He even said that you may lose the number one spot to Sakura-chan!"

Sasuko suddenly stopped moving.

"...What?"

Naruto blinked at the sudden shift of the Uchiha's demeanor. What happened?

"Uh...well Sakura-chan is really smart, right? So it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that she could get a better average right? Doesn't she look up to you anyways?" the orange-clad boy rambled on.

Then he felt himself getting lifted off of his prone position on the ground and back to eye level to the black-haired girl.

"...Let's do that assignment of yours." Sasuko said briskly, before motioning for him to move.

Naruto blinked, he wasn't sure what just happened...

But he did know that he managed to recruit his rival into helping! This would be great!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I take back every nice thing I have ever said about you." Naruto said flatly, giving a dull stare to the girl next to him.

She just shrugged, not really caring. Though to be fair, she also didn't know that he ever thought about her in a positive light.

The more you know.

Ignoring his complaints, she moved forward into the building in order to get started on...'their' project.

She was going throw up for a split-second there.

The two Academy students entered the building with the intent of achieving their desired grades, but one of them clearly didn't want to be there.

"...Can't we just go somewhere else? Libraries are evil dattebayo..."

They were inside the Konoha Library, the perfect place to get to work and find information.

She once more ignored his complaints and trudged forward, intent on completing this assignment as quickly as possible so that she could train once she returned home.

The duo grabbed seats at a table deeper inside, Sasuko finally turned to Naruto.

"Alright. What's your assignment exactly?"

Naruto blinked, oh right...

He twisted the backpack that he brought with him to the front of his body, allowing for easy access. The blond then began to shuffle around in it's contents, looking to find the scroll that held the assignment.

Sasuko gave him a dull stare. He didn't bother to look at what the assignment was...?

The young boy finally found the scroll and pulled it out, ignoring the little bit of paint that managed to get stuck to the piece of parchment. It was an unfortunate casualty to his pranking materials, this backpack was originally meant for his paint.

He quickly read the parchment over and relayed the information to his homework helper. "We have to write about the 'Warring States Period'...sounds boring."

He turned to get Sasuko's opinion, but she was already gone. Looking for books on the era maybe?

The young boy sighed, this would be fun...he could already tell. But he also wanted to get this assignment finished as soon as possible. So he went off to look for history books about the Warring States Era.

After a few minutes of fruitless searching, which really did test his patience in a building that he already didn't like...he found it.

A book specifically about the Warring States Era!

He moved up to grab it and clenched the hard spine of the book's cover...

Then he pulled.

...

He pulled again.

"...What the hell?" Naruto muttered in annoyance, he couldn't take the book! It was as if it was stuck there!

He began to pull with all of his might, which did budge the book, but just as quickly it was pushed back into position by whatever was holding it there.

Then a strange thing happened, the book began to get pulled away from the blond.

Almost as if...

"Usuratonkachi! Is that you on the other side!? Quit pulling the book!" Sasuko growled in annoyance as she tried to grab the book from the opposite side of the bookcase.

So that's why...

Then the boy felt his hackles raise.

"No way! I found it first you bastard! You let go!"

This was the fruits of his labors damn it! No way would he be giving credit to her!

The two youths began having a tug-of-war with the book as the price for their clash. Both contestants heaved with all of their strength, not willing to give the other the prize of claiming that they found the book.

It was as stupid as it sounded.

Their clash was also beginning to push them against the bookcase itself, making the structure slowly rock back and forth...

Then Naruto pulled it a little too hard...

*Crash*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"...Good job, Usuratonkachi. We've been kicked out of the library because of you."

"Teme...it's as much your fault as it is mine!"

The unlikely duo has been kicked out of the library for disturbing the peace and quiet of the building.

...As well as for damaging public property.

"Damn it...what do we do now? How are we supposed to finish the assignment without that book?" Naruto asked no one in particular, he was just voicing his thoughts due to his frustration.

The young girl next to him just smirked. "Why...with this of course."

The young boy gave his 'rival' a confused look, not sure what she could have possibly-

Then his jaw dropped. How did she...?

Right in front of him, Sasuko was carrying the very book that they got kicked out over.

"How!? When!?" Naruto stuttered.

"I snagged it during the confusion and hid it under my shirt. We are training to be shinobi. I'll return it once we're done with it." the black-haired girl claimed as she held the book firmly under her arm.

Well...he hated the library anyways. So maybe this was a better option.

"Alright then! Since the library isn't gonna be an option...let's go to my house so that we can get this assignment started!" Naruto declared, happy at the chance of actually starting the assignment.

Seriously, he expected that they were gonna take a while but this was ridiculous.

"...Hn." the would-be kunoichi responded before she motioned for him to move.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright! Here we are! Welcome to my humble home!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin, excited at the prospect that someone would be visiting his home. It was exciting!

He loudly opened the door and took off his sandals before he walked inside, allowing for his partner to enter behind him.

His partner looked around, taking in the sights that was Uzumaki Naruto's home.

"...It's a dump." Sasuko arbitrarily decided.

This comment stopped Naruto cold.

"Come again?" Naruto asked sweetly, a dark aura enveloping the blond shinobi as his shoulders started to twitch in rising anger.

Ignoring the warning signs of the boy's anger, she continued.

"...It's smelly, drafty, small, messy, and has no air flow...it's a dump." the Uchiha decided without remorse.

Sasuko then felt a hand grip her shirt collar, while the owner of the hand gave her an annoyed scowl, before waving his fist threateningly.

"...I will use this ya know?" Naruto said with a tic mark on his head.

The Uchiha did not deign to threaten the blond in return, she only gave him a cool stare with a slightly mocking smirk.

Only after a few seconds passed without comment, did her hand snake towards Naruto's shirt collar and tighten around the neckline. Bringing their faces closer as a result of this action.

"...Will you? Will you really?" Sasuko asked quietly, eyes practically daring the orange-clad boy to do something.

Both would-be shinobi began a stare-down with one another, neither wanting to give an inch to the other.

Before one blinked, if only so that they could actually get started on their stupid project.

"Tch. Whatever, let's just get to work already." the blond muttered, letting go of his rival's collar and ignoring her smug look.

She would get hers...in about ten seconds.

He plopped himself down on a chair in the kitchen, motioning for Sasuko to take a seat for herself.

She raised an eyebrow, surprised that the blond would let go of his loss so easily. So she walked up to the only other chair on the table and moved to sit down on it while keeping a watchful eye on the blond to make sure that he didn't try anything...

*Pfffft*

The Uchiha's eyes were wide as she felt something make a fart sound under her...

"Ha! Wow Sasuko! I never knew you had it in you! You should lay off of the gassy stuff don't you think!?" Naruto howled out in laughter. Trying desperately hard to not fall over from his seat.

Sasuko didn't reply as she immediately left her seat and examined what the hell she sat-

A whoopee cushion.

She sat on a fucking whoopee cushion.

Her eyes saw red.

"...Usuratonkachi!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh come on Sasuko! It was just a joke! So quit sulking!"

"...I'm not sulking..."

Naruto sighed, he thought that his rival would punch him or maybe even try to get back at him. But soon after she roared at him...she sat down. The embarrassment of the situation seemingly catching up with her.

Now she's sulking in her chair.

He had no idea how to deal with her now...it was weird dealing with a Sasuko that wasn't confrontational.

Seems she wasn't too used to dealing with embarrassment...

"Hmph! To think that you'd end up like this after a setback...I'm almost ashamed to call you my rival!" Naruto complained loudly, hoping that she would take the bait.

She did.

Sasuko glared daggers at the blond. "Rivals!? You aren't even in my league, dobe!"

The whiskered boy then pointed a dramatic finger at her in response. "Then why are you moping!? Random civilians take pranks better than you!"

"...It's precisely because I fell for one of your ridiculous pranks that I'm upset. It's fine for a civilian, but for an Uchiha...it's unacceptable." the black-haired girl retorted with an annoyed scowl.

The table went silent as Naruto seriously pondered about her dilemma.

Then he came up with a solution.

"Get over yourself, bastard."

"...I swear I will kill you, dobe."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Both of the young would-be shinobi were staring at the history book about the Warring States Era. One reading diligently while the other was barely paying attention to the material.

He was trying to though.

Then something caught his eye.

"What the hell is a 'Senju'? Apparently they were your clan's rival, Sasuko!" Naruto exclaimed while looking closely at the material.

Sasuko just nodded, looking somewhat absent-minded at the moment.

Reading about her clan's exploits was bringing back some memories.

Memories of the stories that her mother and father would share with her, about the achievements of their clan.

She should stop. She was getting dangerously close to a topic that she didn't want to remember at this very moment.

Darker emotions began to stir in her heart, wanting to claw itself out as if it was a physical entity that wanted out.

Then she felt someone flick her forehead.

She turned to face the whiskered blond in annoyance.

"...What?"

Naruto pointed at a picture on the history book.

"This guy; Uchiha Madara, was the strongest Uchiha who ever lived right?" Naruto asked, blue eyes questioning her.

Sasuko nodded, aware of the most famous member of the Uchiha clan that has ever lived.

The annoying blond in front of her then grinned, his whiskers stretching to the point that his appearance was very similar to that of a fox.

"Well it looks like this guy; Senju Hashirama, kicked his ass every time they fought! Looks like your clan's strongest guy got his ass kicked a lot huh?" Naruto said with a foxy grin, eyes mocking her.

Sasuko's face contorted in anger.

"Senju Hashirama was the strongest ninja to ever live! The fact that my ancestor was able to fight him nearly on par was incredible!" the Uchiha protested hotly, defending the prestige of the strongest Uchiha.

"Doesn't matter! He still got his ass beat! One day, I will be like the new Hashirama! Beating up the modern-day version of Madara! It seems pretty poetic that we're reading the future eh?" Naruto crowed, he enjoyed riling up his rival.

Much better than her usual cool disposition any day!

Sasuke gritted her teeth, then restarted her argument with her annoying 'rival'. Starting a childish argument with a childish person.

She never realized how easily Uzumaki Naruto removed the ugly feelings from her chest just moments prior.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Done! Man...that took forever!" the young boy exclaimed, he was stretching his limbs as he was talking. Trying to wake up his sleep limbs since he was sitting at one place for way too long.

He wasn't used to that.

"Hn."

Naruto gave his partner a dull stare. That was all she was gonna say?

They finished their project! She would still be number one in the class and he would still be able to take the graduation exam!

This was cause for celebration!

"Hey! As thanks for helping me out, let's go get some ramen! My treat! How's that sound?"

Sasuko blinked slowly, before turning around to face her annoying partner.

"...Your treat?"

"...Yes. My treat."

"Who are you and where's the dobe?"

Naruto did his best to ignore her 'subtle' insult. He was generous when he wanted to be, damn it.

After a little cajoling and a lot of dragging around, the two eventually made it to Naruto's favorite restaurant on the planet; Ramen Ichiraku, in order to get some food.

Both of the Academy students grabbed seats for themselves and waited to be served, although it was obvious which one of them had the most enthusiasm.

"Hello there Naruto-kun! I've been wondering when you would come by! I thought that we might go bankrupt without our favorite customer!" a young waitress chirped to the whiskered blond.

"Hey there Ayame! Sorry I didn't come by yesterday, I was busy." Naruto replied sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

Pranking was hard work. Lots of preparation time.

"I'd like to have the usual! Also, can you tell the old man not to give me any menma? That stuff sucks!"

"Hey you brat! That happened once! Get over it!" someone hollered from the back of the restaurant.

Ayame grinned as she took down his order and then turned to his companion.

Sasuko was staring blankly at the menu, unsure of what to pick. She hasn't been in a restaurant in a very long time.

Rolling his eyes, he turned to Ayame. "Just give her the same as I'm getting...maybe a smaller portion though.

The waitress nodded and then scribbled down the order, she then left to the back of the restaurant to give her father the orders.

"Don't worry Sasuko. You're about to be introduced to the food that could bring world peace. You will one day become converted to the 'truth' and 'justice' of ramen dattebayo!" Naruto declared exuberantly. Confident in his words, no one could resist ramen in his eyes.

Especially the holy land of ramen, that was Ramen Ichiraku!

The black-haired girl merely gave him a straight face.

Then she sighed.

"I'm regretting that I came here with you. I don't even like ramen that much..." Sasuko complained lightly, annoyed at how she allowed herself to get dragged into the restaurant.

"Wh-Whaaaat!? One does not simply reject ramen! Ramen is meant for all! Ramen is a peace-bringer! Ramen is love! Ramen is life!" Naruto cried out, shocked at the blasphemous words coming out of his partner's mouth.

"What are you blabbering about? Ramen is just like any other food. The only food that can claim to be love...is tomatoes." Sasuko retorted without a hint of shame. Assured that her words were true.

Naruto just gave her a deadpanned look.

"...Tomatoes suck."

"...You just crossed the fucking line, dobe. Ramen sucks."

"That's it! You are sooooo gonna get it!"

The fight ended with both students punching each other in the face and getting kicked out of the restaurant for disturbing the other customers.

Naruto was devastated that he couldn't get his daily fix.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the next day came, Naruto made extra sure to get up early.

He was a man on a mission.

Something that he really...really didn't want to do.

Thank Sasuko for her time and effort.

Dear mother of...he felt dirty just thinking about it. May the ramen gods cleanse his sinful soul.

But it had to be done, they went through a lot of trouble yesterday and his rival didn't have to help him at all. She did it only because Sakura-chan would have been rookie-of-the-year and that wasn't a bid deal, right?

So maybe...somewhere in that empty space she called a heart...she did it because she wasn't all that bad?

Either way, he had to thank her properly. Uzumaki Naruto always paid his dues!

So he made it to the Academy early and waited in front of the school. Nervous at what he was about to do.

He really hoped that no one asked too many questions...

Then, as if someone was answering his prayers, he saw the female Uchiha walking casually up to the Academy building!

He'd give his thanks to the ramen gods later.

He ran up to the intractable girl, building up the courage for what he was about to do.

When Sasuko noticed him running up to her, she stopped in her tracks to stare at the incoming blond.

Then when he reached her, they both stopped and said nothing to one another. Willing the other to say what they had to say.

This led to a ridiculously awkward silence.

Naruto's face was contorting, trying to say the words that wouldn't leave his mouth, no matter how hard he tried.

This made him look constipated, in Sasuko's opinion.

"...What do you want, dobe?" the Uchiha asked with a sigh. The silence was getting ridiculous.

This seemingly managed to give the whiskered boy the courage he needed to say what he had to say.

"I...I...! I wanted to thank you!" Naruto shouted out.

Sasuko blinked.

Then she blinked again.

Then she performed a hand seal to dispel any genjutsu that may have been placed on her.

Nope, there was no genjutsu. This was real.

"...Hah?" the black-haired girl asked with a confused face.

Naruto fumbled for words. "Look. I know that you didn't have to help me and that you were probably annoyed...but you really helped me out back there. So I just wanted to thank you is all! Don't take this the wrong way though! This doesn't change anything between us! We are still rivals, ya hear!?"

Sasuko was silent. Staring at the boy in front of her as if he had grown a second head.

He may as well have.

"...You don't have to thank me." the Uchiha replied quietly.

Naruto looked up at her, confused.

"...You were very annoying, a pain in the ass, an idiot, and many other things...but." Sasuko began, before sending him a small smile.

"...It was kind of fun."

Naruto forgot to breathe for that moment.

When she wasn't scowling...or mocking...or doing the many things that she did...

...She looked kind of cute.

"...But you are still a dobe. Don't forget that."

She just fucking killed it.

His shoulders shook as his anger bubbled to the surface, as the Uchiha looked on in slight confusion. Unsure of why he was reacting the way he was.

"Teme! To think that I actually changed my opinion about you for a split-second there! As I thought...a bastard will always be a bastard!" the orange-loving boy retorted angrily.

That's right! He must never forget how she rejected the ramen! She was a bastard! Through and through!

As a matter of fact...to prevent any such thoughts from invading his head again...he can't look at her as a girl anymore!

From now on...she wouldn't be Sasuko in his eyes...she'd be...

"...From now on...I'm calling you 'Sasuke'." Naruto said bluntly, wanting to prevent any other blasphemous thoughts from entering his head by replacing his mental image of her in his head.

Sasuko's eyebrow twitched, but she didn't respond. She merely responded by raising a fist...

Then raising the middle finger.

That's it.

"...Usuratonkachi."

"...Bastard."


	2. Chapter 2

The Hokage was doing his utmost best to enjoy the peace and quiet of the day, taking advantage of the lack of pranks that usually riddled the week.

How was he enjoying it? By reading his favorite book of course.

Yes...his favorite.

He giggled every now and again as he read one of the most recent installments of Icha Icha, admiring the work of art that he held in his hands...oh Jiraiya...you have outdone yourself this time...

"Hokage-sama!"

The elderly man tensed immediately, scrambling to throw his 'precious' into a drawer cabinet and hide it from view.

Iruka slammed open the door, breathless as entered the room. "Hokage-sama...it worked! It actually worked!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen could only gawk at the unusual actions of the usually reserved chūnin. "...What has worked exactly?"

The young teacher spread his arms out as if prepared to give a hug, grinning wildly without reserve. "Naruto and Sasuko has practically stopped fighting! They haven't tried to pick fights with one another in over a week!"

The village leader leaned in, shock obvious on his face. "Seriously...? I've heard nothing but bad things about their behavior with one another, whatever you did...must have been quite effective to calm them down."

The younger man's expression suddenly turned a little sheepish. "Well...barring a few exceptions of course. Nevertheless, we have been able to focus more in class than before, so I've come to the realization that we can go on that field trip now."

Sarutobi leaned back into his chair, considering. Now that was interesting...

Due to the general mayhem in the classroom, a lot of time was wasted on covering material that was supposed to be covered earlier in the school year, forcing certain events to be cancelled outright.

Events such as school trips, where the students get to learn more about the area outside of the village; the Land of Fire.

But apparently...Iruka apparently managed to cover enough class material to justify going on a trip.

"Very well then, what did you have in mind? Mind you, it can't be anything that requires too much time to prepare for, this is in short notice after all."

The young chūnin smiled. "I have just the one, it will help to familiarize my students with the area outside of the village. It might even help encourage deeper loyalty to the people of Fire Country itself."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow in interest. "You mean...?"

Iruka nodded, eyes sparkling as he realized that this class of his would actually get to go on a trip for once!

This would be great!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come on already! Where the hell is he!?" Naruto complained audibly, glaring around at the classroom where he was stationed, looking for their sensei.

"Ugh! Give it a rest, Naruto! Just be patient!" a young girl with strawberry pink hair reprimanded, standing up from her seat to glower at the blond.

The would-be shinobi flinched. "Oh come on Sakura-chan..."

"She's right you know...as troublesome as it is to admit..." a lazy-looking boy with his hair shaped like a pineapple yawned out.

Naruto just huffed, sitting down at his seat in petulant defiance.

The young prankster was impatiently waiting for their sensei to arrive, agitated that he got here on time -on time!- just so that he wouldn't miss going on the rumored trip.

Yet despite the momentous occasion, the man had the nerve to be not give the blond the same courtesy of being earlier than normal!? The gall!

After his outburst was quelled, the rest of the students began chattering again, taking advantage of the fact that their teacher was late.

All except one.

Blue eyes shifted carefully towards the other end of the room, where a certain Uchiha stayed isolated from the general rowdiness of the class. Mostly because of the aura that she emitted that warned people to stay away.

You know...the usual.

But there was...something new there too.

Ever since they worked together to finish that extra-work project, they have had an ambivalent...well, actually he had no idea.

Comradery? Acquaintance? Friendship?

He seriously had no idea, but he did know that the very few times that he actually interacted with her after the fact, she has mostly stuck with grunts and glares.

...And the occasional 'hn'.

Basically. He had no idea how to talk to her sometimes.

...Not that he wanted to or anything, he was just bored sometimes. That's all. Nothing else.

...He'd punch anyone who suggested differently.

"Hey, dobe!"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched faintly as an Academy student waltzed close to him and brought his arm around his shoulder.

"What do you want?" the whiskered boy grouched, turning to look at the random student.

"Hey, hey dobe...let's be civil about this, eh?" the student stated blithely, flashing a smirk. "We were just curious about something, so we wanted to ask you a question."

"We?" Naruto echoed, glancing behind him to see what the heck-

The would-be shinobi deadpanned. Seriously?

Several students were lined up behind the student, with many of them pretending that they weren't paying attention...but were obviously doing so.

"Yeah." the student nodded. "It's about-"

"Hey dobe! What the hell did you do!?"

A young boy smashed into the Academy student that was talking to Naruto down the stairs, completely ignoring the tumbling boy and focusing on the prankster.

"...You too, Kiba...?" Naruto asked, disbelief heavy in his voice.

The feral boy shook his head. "Forget that! More importantly...how did you manage to talk to Sasuko!?"

The moment that he asked that question, the flood gates slammed open.

"Yeah! Why the hell would onee-sama talk to you!?"

"Bastard...! This isn't fair...!"

"I'll kill you!"

Naruto looked at the crowd of students like a small animal would look at a pack of predators, causing him to shrink in his seat momentarily.

As he seriously wondered whether he should try and make a quick get-away, the blond never noticed that the ruckus that surrounded him had attracted the attention of the sole Uchiha of the class.

Sasuko stared at the growing mob that seemed intent to swallow him whole, curious.

"Damn it...!" Naruto growled, as the group of students began to heave against him, pushing him off his own desk. "No choice...!"

With that realization, the blond quickly dug into his pocket and brought out a black pallet, swinging it down towards the floor with a growing maniacal grin on his face.

The moment that the pallet reached the floor, it blew up into a cloud of smoke, enveloping the group.

"Gah! What the hell!?"

"C-Can't see!"

"It's that blond bastard! It has to be! Don't let him get away!"

Sasuko's lips curled upwards as she noticed an orange blur run past the mob and head towards the door outside. Not bad idiot...

Although it seems that his escape attempt got to his head, as the would-be shinobi cackled loudly as he charged straight out the door and into-

"Ah!" Iruka grunted as a blond blur smashed into his abdomen. "Naruto!? What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

Blue eyes innocently glancing upwards to his sensei, flashing a hesitant smile in the hopes of getting out of trouble.

He just had to come just then, huh...?

"...Nothing?"

A fist bopped him hard upside the head, leaving a large bump in it's wake.

Just another day...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright class!" Iruka shouted over the din. "I suppose that many of you have heard about the little trip that we have planned! Well...I'm excited to tell you that we will we be going to Tanzaku Quarters!"

The class immediately went silent after their sensei's announcement, as the knowledge of their destination sunk in.

"That's it...?" one student said, their disappointment blatant.

Murmurs of agreement began to echo after that incredulous statement, obviously some were hoping for something a little more...exotic.

Uchiha Sasuko simply snorted at the complaints, this entire 'trip' was completely useless...

She seriously wondered whether Konoha was too lenient to their students at times. They were planning to become shinobi after all, not exactly the best profession to be unprepared for.

More than that, why should they be going to this trip when they could be training? The entire thing was a complete waste of time.

As Sasuko began to stew at the concept of the trip itself, a certain annoying blond moved right next to her to occupy the seat by her's. Slumping down onto the desk.

Pitch-black eyes turned to look at the village prankster, annoyed that he took up the seat. She hoped that everyone gave up trying to take the seat ever since last time...

Last time being something of a little war of who got the privilege of taking the seat, which ended in a consensus that no one got the privilege.

But apparently someone didn't get the memo...

Naruto stayed silent as he kept his head face-down, ignoring all of the dark glares that he was accumulating for his temerity.

He had too much of a headache to care.

Sasuko finally turned away from her unwelcome guest, he at least decided to stay silent instead of try and start up conversation. It was best to leave it that way.

What happened to them the other day was...interesting, admittedly. But it was a one-time thing.

An aberration, nothing more than that.

So instead of trying to shift their status-quo, she was more than content to allow their new-found camaraderie to slip away.

She simply couldn't focus on anything else...except...

"Oi, bastard."

The raven-haired girl flinched imperceptibly, before glancing at the blond beside her.

"Quit acting like a wet blanket...your doom and gloom is making it hard to relax." Naruto stated bluntly, trying to nurse his headache. "Geez...I think Iruka-sensei damaged my brain..."

The young Uchiha blinked slowly, regarding the completely unrepentant blond, as a very faint sense of respect began to worm it's way into her eyes.

That being said, she refused to let him have the last word.

"Really now...? Well I'm so sorry." Sasuko drawled, sarcasm heavy in her voice. "I'm also sorry to say dobe...that it's impossible for our sensei to have damaged your brain. You need to have one to damage one I'm afraid."

Naruto moved his head from the desk to shoot the young girl a dark glare, a challenging glint in his eye.

"...You want to go, bastard?"

A dark grin grew across the raven-haired girl's face.

"ENOUGH!"

Both students jumped slightly in their seats, eyes snapping to their sensei at the front of the room.

Sweatdrops abound.

Iruka's head grew to at least twice his body size, bearing down upon all of the students with grit teeth and a large tic on his forehead.

"WE ARE GOING TO TANZAKU QUARTERS...AND YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE IT!" the enraged sensei roared out, giving none of the students any mercy.

Needless to say, no one could deny him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It became blatantly apparent to anyone with eyes that Iruka-sensei's class really didn't want to go on the school trip. It was just as apparent that the chūnin was forcing them to go anyways.

So the chūnin quickly led the class out of the village as a pack with his friend and assistant; Mizuki, who took the tail-end of the group.

It didn't take them long to reach their destination either, as they opted to get there as quickly as possible instead of walking to maximize the amount of time they had to spend in the relatively lively town.

When the group finally made it to Tanzaku Quarters, many of the students took the chance to at least try to enjoy their stay. With many of them looking around to take in the sights, very few of them have ever left the village after all.

Though it became obvious that not everyone was enjoying their little 'adventure'.

Sasuko was currently at the back of the group, eyes flitting across her surroundings with something approaching irritation and stoicism simultaneously.

She was doing nothing but wasting time here...with people that she didn't like to boot.

Not to mention that the only one in this entire group who was half-way tolerable for her was currently...

The Uchiha tilted her head slightly to the right, to glance at the overly happy idiot that was Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto seemed to have taken it upon himself to greet the many people that made up the small town, waving at everyone that passed by with a large grin.

Many people were obviously taken aback by the by the overly-friendly greeting from a total stranger, but nonetheless many waved back with a small smile of their own.

"...What are you doing?" Sasuko eventually asked, irritated at his happy demeanor due to her own somber mood.

The orange-loving boy turned back to the young girl, a smile on his face. "Saying hi to everyone of course! I think it's a good idea that everyone knows who the future Hokage is going to be! I'm going to be a very important person after all!"

With that reasoning in place, Naruto turned back to his very important mission of saying 'hi' to everybody that passed him by.

Sasuko turned away resolutely from the blond, shaking her head. It was official, she was surrounded by idiots.

"Alright class!" Iruka bellowed over the consistent chatter of his students, silencing them immediately, lest they face his horrible wrath. "We're going to enjoy the scenery of the town a little longer, meet some of the locals, see some of the tourist attractions, and finally finish with a full-fledged study and tour of Tanzaku Castle."

The chūnin frowned for a moment, as a new idea popped into his head. Well...he did have their attention...so may as well, right?

"As a matter of fact...I think it's best if students form little groups of their friends to help enhance this experience. As long as they don't go overboard, it should be alright."

Silence was the class' initial response to this suggestion, a deafening silence that stretched on before the students finally registered their sensei's words.

Then, almost as a unit, the majority of the class turned their heads to the back of the large group.

Sasuko cursed under her breath as several sets of eyes zeroed in on her. This probably wasn't good...

Before anyone could raise a peep, the young Uchiha immediately brought her arm out and grabbed the annoying blond besides her, pulling him towards her.

"H-Hey! What the hell!?" Naruto protested, tripping over himself as he was pulled.

The raven-haired girl didn't respond, she only finished dragging the class prankster to her and raised her chin in defiance against the rest of the class.

Everyone quickly understood; she already had her group.

Naruto on the other hand had no idea what just happened, and began sweating lightly when he practically felt the harsh glares focus on him. What the heck did he do!? He was innocent this time!

Iruka sweat-dropped at the scene, unsure about how to take the fact that those two students would be in the same group...

Nevertheless, he clapped his hand, returning the class' attention back to him. "You can start making groups any time now!"

With that, the students that remained quickly scrambled around to grab their friends to form groups with, acting far more like a bunch of young children than a group of would-be shinobi.

"It seems that despite class' initial reluctance...everyone seems to be enjoying the trip now." Mizuki noted, flashing his friend a chipper smile as he walked up to him.

Iruka nodded, beaming. "I'm happy that they are having fun, what with the burden of responsibility that will soon touch their shoulders. This may be the last time that some of them will have fun together after all."

The teacher's eyes mellowed out slightly at the thought, they were going to take the exams soon...some of them will go on to become actual ninja...

It was hard seeing them go sometimes.

His eye unwillingly flashed to a certain boy in orange clothing.

"By the way!" Mizuki interrupted, cutting off his friend from his thoughts. "What do you think about Naruto-kun's and Sasuko-kun's new relationship?"

Iruka turned to his friend, shocked. "Ah...? I wouldn't really call their relationship anything like a...'relationship'..."

He then turned back around, crossing his arms and pondering the question.

"...I would call it a 'status quo' or maybe even a silent agreement to stay out of each other's way." Iruka began, before his facial features slid into a teasing grin. "Though...to be perfectly honest...another teacher described it perfectly in my eyes; a blood pact."

The teacher began to chuckle, amused at the thought. Their strange relation between each other was just that weird.

Iruka didn't notice the brief flash of annoyance and irritation that appeared on Mizuki's face. As it was smoothed out before he could look at him.

"Ah, well yeah. It does kind of look like that." Mizuki agreed readily, chuckling. "Though I was talking about more in terms of the content of their...'blood pact' with one another."

The young chūnin blinked, before scratching his cheek and speaking in an apologetic tone. "Ah...sorry, got it confused. So get this; while you were on break, I decided to try and stop their fighting..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What the hell are you up to? What's your game here?"

Sasuko continued to stare firmly ahead, feigning interest on the historical buildings and sights. Doing whatever she could to ignore the blond besides her who was glaring at her for her temerity.

"Oi! Don't ignore me damn it!"

That's what she was trying to do though...

"...If you keep ignoring me, I'm going to start poking you relentlessly. Do you want me to do that?"

The young girl scowled, before turned slowly to regard the dobe with a hard look.

"...Touch me, and I will hurt you."

Naruto leaned in, facial features as menacing as he could possibly make it.

To her eyes, he was trying to look constipated.

He succeeded.

"Then don't ignore me!" the would-be shinobi challenged.

Sasuko rolled her eyes, sighing in exasperation. "Alright...fine. "What do you want?"

The blond beamed, pleased that she caved, before turning serious again. "Answer me, why the heck did you drag me into this? I thought that..."

Naruto stopped, frowning as he struggled to spit out the right words.

"You thought that I didn't want any part of you?" she offered, a knowing look in her eye.

Blue eyes blinked. "...Yeah, that."

The Uchiha didn't say anything, she just turned to incline her head to the group in front of them, their classmates.

"If forced between you and...them...it's obvious." she said, no doubt in her voice.

Naruto eyed the raven-haired girl, shocked, before a cheesy grin began to split his face. "Aww...so you like me better than everyone else? That's so nice~"

Sasuko's face twitched, glaring at the blond. "Wrong. I just happen to dislike you less than them. Get it right."

The whiskered boy deflated slightly, giving the only other member of this 'group' a tired look. "Hey...why are you always such a bastard...? I was right the first time...I really should just be calling you 'Sasuke' by this point..."

Black eyes narrowed at the jab, that stupid nickname he gave her the other day...did he even realize it's importance? Where it came from?

Probably not, most likely he thought that shifting the last letter of her name into a masculine-sounding one was clever.

It wasn't, but it still made her want to hit him.

Naruto turned away from her for a moment, eyes scanning their surroundings, before turning back to her, blue pupils lighting up with childish delight. "Hey! Since you're having no more fun than I am...let's get away from the group! Do something else! There has to be more to this town than this!"

The blond was sure that she'd agree, considering that she doesn't want to be here, maybe they could actually become friends when this was through!

But according to her expression, she was less than open to the idea.

"...Hah?" Sasuko spoke out, less than enthused. "What are you talking about now, dobe? This isn't Konoha, you won't get away with your pranks here."

The orange-loving boy snorted her assumption, he was more than just a prankster, thank you very much! "It isn't that. I just want to see the sights, I promise dattebayo."

The Uchiha didn't look convinced.

So the 'dead-last' of the class huffed and turned away. "Well fine then, I'll just go alone. No worries, I'm sure that you'll have fun with the class."

Naruto's eyes scanned the group of classmates that were in front of them, making sure that they were all focused on anything besides the back of the group...

Then he turned to his right, and jumped, landing on the roof of a building that they were passing by. Grinning from ear to ear.

Black eyes followed him as he immediately made to get away from the group, obviously having fun already.

...

...

...

"...I'm going to regret this." Sasuko muttered darkly to herself, jumping after her annoying partner.

She hated to admit it though, the prospect of staying with her classmates was extraordinarily unappealing.

Especially without her meat-shield to stop the other students from harassing her to join their groups.

She'd take annoying blondes with whiskers over that any day of the week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto was jumping from building rooftop to building rooftop, looking around, an infectious smile on his face.

This was it! His first adventure away from Konoha!

He had to make his mark here...as a future Hokage! He had to show everyone in Fire Country how awesome he was!

But how to do that...?

The blond pondered the question, scheming for a way to get the adulation he needed...

He firmly smacked his hand onto an open palm, eyes shining as he got an idea.

He needed to save a princess! That's always the go-to plan when becoming celebrated, right!?

So...now that the hard part was done, all he needed to do was find one.

Blue eyes looked around, smile still firmly on his face, looking to see where he could find a princess that needed saving around here.

...

...

A crippling depression forced him onto his hands and knees.

There were no princesses in Tanzaku Quarters were there...?

When Sasuko finally caught up to her annoying partner, she noticed that he was on his hands and knees, an aura of depression surrounding him.

She was regretting this already...

"...Are you bipolar or something?" she couldn't help but voice out, genuinely wondering.

Naruto shot up immediately, the depression leaving his aura, as he turned around and pointed an offending digit at the young girl.

"Don't judge me! My brilliant plan has just been foiled by chance...so it made me sad is all. It happens to even the most brilliant of shinobi. I bet that guy we studied, the Shodai Hokage, sometimes got depressed!"

Sasuko rolled her eyes. "Yes...I'm sure your 'brilliant' plan was worth something to get upset over. How long did this plan of yours last until it has been foiled? Not even a minute?"

The blond surly turned away. "...A bit more than a minute."

Her point exactly.

Before Naruto could try to defend himself, the Uchiha jumped down from the rooftop and onto the streets, shocking some pedestrians at her sudden appearance.

She stuffed her hands into her pockets and began walking down the street, figuring that she may as well take advantage of the fact that she was here.

The orange-loving boy scrambled from his spot, chasing after her as she continued to walk down the street. "Well! I see that you're revved up to go now, huh?"

"Hn."

Brilliant speaker she was.

The duo continued to make their way through the streets after that, just looking around, trying to kill time.

Then the prankster's eyes lit up when he found a way to do just that.

Naruto rushed past the raven-haired girl, moving straight towards...

Sasuko raised an eyebrow, did he know what that was?

Shrugging, the Uchiha decided to follow, bored enough to check out the fireworks.

As she figured, when the two young shinobi-in-training entered the somewhat dingy gambling house, all eyes turned to them. Zeroing in on what they assumed to be easy prey.

"Welcome! Welcome! I assume you two are here to play a game of chance in my fine establishment? Well then...come right in! I'm sure we can find you both a nice place to settle in..." a middle-aged man gushed as he approached them, eyes predatory.

The raven-haired girl narrowed her eyes, wary, this guy was obviously trying to shake them down for their money...

"You got it old man! Take us to the biggest and most expensive place you got!" Naruto cried out, fist-pumping.

If the older man could have grinned harder, his face would have split. Of this the Uchiha had no doubt.

Also, why was she still here?

Ignoring the internal question for now, she followed after the only other member of their little group. Moving closer to him as they walked deeper into the lion's den.

"What the hell goes on in you head, dobe?" she hissed, keeping her voice low.

Naruto sent her a sidelong smirk, blue eyes twinkling wisely. "Oh...you don't know huh? Well...I suppose I'll just have to enlighten you."

A delicate eyebrow twitched, she had no idea where this confidence came from.

The blond puffed his chest out, nose in the air, as he 'informed' her. "You see...in some adult books...the good guy sometimes goes to gambling houses, right? So when they go to these places, a fight usually breaks out, and then they get a mission to protect someone important! Like a princess! Don't you see!? This is my ticket to get my name known!"

Sasuko stared owlishly at the blond, was he serious...?

Her brain temporarily stopped functioning, so she while she was attempting to ask the question that she wanted to ask, she simply asked the first thing that popped in her mind.

"...You read adult books?"

Naruto just gave her a thumbs up.

"For the oiroke no jutsu (sexy jutsu)!"

Her face quickly shifted to light disdain, she remembered that jutsu all too well...

"Hey, I can tell by that look in your eye." the dead-last pointed out, giving her the stink-eye. "Don't judge the jutsu. It's the perfect pranking tool on Iruka-sensei and jii-chan...and most people in general. Haven't really tested it too much on the female teachers yet though."

Sasuko could only shake her head, dismayed that this was the best way to use up her time.

Where did she go wrong in life to get to this point?

As she seriously wondered about the route that she took her life, the older man finally stopped in front of a large table. Where hardened looking men were glaring at one another down, the tension thick in the air.

"Everyone!" the older man called out, a playful grin on his face. "I brought us some challengers!"

The adults stopped what they were doing to glance at them, shifting all of their attention to their newest prey.

"Hoh? What's with the brats? I didn't know we were running a daycare..." a male patron spoke up gruffly, eyeing the Academy students critically.

Hackles raised, Naruto opened his mouth to retort rudely-

But a hand quickly moved to silence him, covering it up with utmost efficiency, and preventing him from starting anything.

Blue eyes traveled to their owner; his rival, looking entirely annoyed.

Sasuko wasn't apologetic.

"Ah...well you see my friends, it seems that this young man wishes to try his hand at the pro's table. What do you say? Care to give him a glimpse of the real world?" the older man stated, a feigned apologetic tone to his voice.

The patrons turned to one another, before grinning and motioning for the kid to take a seat.

Naruto did just that, taking out a green object from his pants pocket and placing onto the crap table.

"I'm betting Gama-chan, my pet and wallet. Come at me!" the blond declared, confidence thoroughly unshakable.

All eyes moved to the small frog-like wallet on the table, a little chubby with the amount of...'fat' that it contained.

"...You got yourself a deal, kid."

Sasuko leaned against a support beam as she sighed, mourning the fact that she literally had nothing better to do other than watch the occasionally humorous shenanigans that the dobe partook in.

Well, things could be worse she supposed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright class!" Iruka announced over the class' din. "This is Tanzaku Castle! A historical landmark that was once owned by this town's nobility. We're going to be going on a tour of this famous tourist attraction and maybe even go inside to truly study it's internal workings. Try to have as much fun as possible here, as we won't have too much time to spare in this town once we're done here!"

Murmurs broke out from the class at this information, many among them simply looking at the relatively large structure with interest.

"...Seems that the students have calmed down a bit, maybe because they heard that this is a famous tourist attraction?" Mizuki noted, scanning the group among him.

His friend grinned, shrugging. "Maybe, but to be fair, ever since my genius plan...I've rarely had to use intimidation tactics to force my class back in line. It's a really nice change of pace.

The scarred chūnin frowned the moment after he made that sentence, suddenly tense.

...There was something wrong.

"It's too quiet." the young teacher commented out loud, suddenly intensely sure of his assumption.

Mizuki turned to him, looking genuinely confused. "Isn't that what you wanted though? What's the problem?"

Iruka glanced around himself, biting his lips. "...Where's Naruto? Actually, now that I look at the group...where's Sasuko?"

The assistant instructor joined his 'friend', realizing that he was indeed right.

"...Iruka. You stay here, I'll go looking for the kids. Alright?" Mizuki ordered quickly, standing up and getting ready to move.

The scarred instructor of the Academy nodded gratefully. "Right. Please do so...and make sure that they're safe."

His old-time friend nodded, jumping away from the group to begin his search.

Although...he had to admit...that he wasn't just doing this out of the kindness of his heart.

Mizuki still needed the kyuubi-brat for his own operations, it would be a shame if he let the boy get killed for no reason.

No...best let the brat get killed for something of value. Hell, he should actually be thanking Mizuki; he's going to give him a purpose beyond anything else he has in life.

A chuckle escaped through his lips. Yep...just a little longer until graduation...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone was so silent that they could hear a pin drop, of this Sasuko had no doubt.

Her eyes were as wide as saucers -a first for her in a while- as she stared at the blond close to her. Wiping her eyes to make sure that she was actually seeing what she was seeing.

Nope, this was reality.

"...How?" a patron muttered out loud, gaping. "How did you...?"

Naruto was all smiles, with several stacks of chips on his side of the table. Completely satisfied with what happened.

Karmic justice.

The blond then grabbed all of the chips carefully, scooping them up, and moving to cash them in.

Everyone else just stayed stone-still, shocked beyond belief that they all just got swindled by a little boy in an orange jumpsuit.

They were still like that when Naruto returned with a very fat Gama-chan, rubbing it on his face with lots of love.

"This is bullshit!" roared a patron, slamming his fist down on the table. "No one could possibly be that lucky! There is just no way! He cheated! He must have! Give me my money back!"

Immediately after, the other participants of the game roared out in agreement, getting up to teach the little punk a lesson.

Sasuko quickly broke through her stupor when the burly and gruff men got up, obviously intent on getting their repayment.

She clicked her tongue, moving quickly to try and defuse the situation-

"Hah! I actually won fair-and-square! If any of you have a problem with that...then come at me!" the young boy taunted as he placed Gama-chan on the table besides him.

...She was going to stab him with a rusty kunai.

Accordingly, the men charged him, four in total, enraged.

Naruto just stood his ground, grinning like an idiot.

When the men reached him, the one in front threw a fist that was sailing towards the little boy's face, not bothering to hold back.

The blond quickly ducked under the fist, moving past the burly man, before spinning around a second fist thrown by the man behind the first. Once he did that, he caught the third man by surprise by hooking his foot under the man's legs, tripping him up to crash into his buddies' backs.

Naruto had no choice but to catch the final man's punch however, as he had no time to move, but despite all that, his fellow male was still gobsmacked.

"...You...you're not a normal kid are you...?" the unruly patron stated quietly, staring at the blond boy.

The whiskered kid flashed his slightly-sharp canines. "Yep! I'm the future Hokage! I'm Uzumaki Naruto dattebayo!"

As he made his declaration, Naruto put more strength into his arms, lifting the man up over his shoulder in a feat of power.

"Remember it!" the blond cried out, swinging the man over his shoulder and twisting about...

Then flinging him towards his buddies sending them crashing to the wall, making small spider-cracks on it.

A small moment of silence followed, with the young boy looking around for his predicted ticket. It happened all the time in those adult books! It should happen now, right!?

"What the hell happened in here!?"

Naruto twisted his body in elation, turning to meet the person that he would be assigned to protect. He could taste everyone's adulation now!

Then his eyes met the ones owned by the older man who led them inside the gambling house. Probably the owner now that he thought about it.

"...Eh...you're one ugly princess..." the shinobi-in-training muttered, looking at the older man with a critical eye.

The man just growled, annoyed. "You...just what did you...?"

Then his eyes traveled to the group of men that were unconscious on the ground, causing his eyes to narrow dangerously.

It was impossible for a boy to defeat so many grown men by himself...unless...

"You're a ninja...aren't you?" the man grumbled out, sharp eyes regarding the blond with new-found wariness.

Naruto blinked. "Uhh..."

The man didn't wait for him to respond, he merely placed his hand onto the handle of a blade that he had on his hip. Bending his knees to lower his center of gravity, all in preparation to attack.

"...I should have known that getting free cash from a brat like you was too good to be true. Which boss sent you? Who are you affiliated with!?"

Naruto took a step back, eyes widening in surprise. Did he...get involved with something he shouldn't have...?

When he didn't answer, the older man took a step forward, eyes menacing. "If you won't answer...then I'll just have to-!"

His eyes bulged, his hand's grip slackened, and he began to crumple to the ground.

All due to the pale fist that was embedded into his stomach.

Sasuko watched impassively as the grown man folded like a chair, falling to the ground, unconscious.

Black eyes coolly turned to blue, almost accusatory.

"You were taking too long." she stated, as if it was obvious.

The blond stared at her for a moment, speechless, before awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "Ah...sorry."

The Uchiha nodded, before turning around and making towards the exit. "Come on, I'm bored."

Naruto frowned, but acquiesced, disappointed that he didn't get the chance to prove himself. He moved back to grab Gama-chan so that they could-

...

"AHHHHHHH!"

Sasuko groaned, what now?

"It's gone! Gama-chan is gooooooone!" her partner wailed, frantically looking around to find his precious pet/wallet.

As he did so, she saw quick movement through the corner of her eye, allowing her to see a small form quickly leave the gambling house.

"Ah...dobe-"

"What do I do? What do I do!?"

The Uchiha's face twitched.

"Usuratonkachi."

That got his attention, as exhibited from a mega-watt glare.

She merely tilted her head to the exit. "Saw your little thief."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Seriously!? Alright! Let's go get the bastard!"

With that, the blond ran out, disappearing as fast as he appeared into the building, like some sort of human natural disaster.

Sasuko stuffed her hands into her pockets, trailing afterwards. Finally at peace with the fact that choosing the dead-last of the class for her group may have been a bad idea.

...But a strangely enjoyable one.

She would never admit it though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The little girl was running as hard as she could on her little legs, trying to make it back to her family as soon as possible.

She clutched the little frog close to her chest, comforted by the fact that it's contents were moving around constantly as she moved.

It should hopefully be enough...

As the little girl made her way to her destination, she saw a young boy walking towards her, looking around with a worried look.

"Nii-chan!" the small girl cried out, waving her arms frantically, grabbing his attention.

"Imouto...! Where have you been!? I was worried sick!" the young boy complained, placing his fists onto his hips, before frowning slightly. "Whatcha' got there?"

The little girl moved closer and offered the frog-shaped wallet to her older sibling. "I...uh...found it. It was on the ground. Nii-chan...we can use this to to pay off those bad people!"

"...What?" the boy breathed, eyes wide. "Are you serious...? That's awesome! No...more than that! It's incredible! Come on, let's go!"

The children immediately made to go back to their home, in the hopes that their stroke of good luck could get the thugs off their back.

They didn't have to go too far.

"Oi! There you brats are!"

Both siblings winced as a harsh voice alerted them to the thugs that they were looking for. The ones that made their life much more harder to bear.

As they expected, two thugs were walking down the street holding bokken over their shoulders, all while carrying themselves with inherent authority.

"You've been dodging protection money brats...it's been an entire week since you've paid! I expect some compensation!" one of the men growled, glowering down at the little family.

The little boy bit his lips, but still mustered up the courage to take the green wallet and offer it up. "T-This is to pay off our debt, this should be more than enough to also pay off our late fee! Take it and leave us alone!"

One of the thugs grabbed the frog-shaped wallet, opening it up to inspect the contents inside, before nodding in satisfaction. "Alright kid...you've covered the lateness fee, now all you've gotta do is buy off the debt."

"W-W-What!? But...that's for both!" the little girl protested hotly.

Both men grinned at one another, before turning to the kids. "No, this is our early birthday present. As thanks for the gift...we'll give you two another week to cough up the money."

Both children gaped, before the older brother took a step forward and grit his teeth. "No! That's for both! You can't just-!"

The boy grunted as he was lifted from the ground, the thug gripping his collar roughly and without remorse.

"...You don't get it, do you kid?" the man growled, gripping the boy's collar tighter, ignoring the wailing of his younger sister as she begged for him to stop. "We work for the crime boss; Daikoku Tenzen, and his word is law here. We can do whatever we want, and you have to placate us...or face the consequences...understand?"

Through grit teeth, the boy tried to respond, having a difficult time speaking when he was hoisted from his collar.

Turns out he didn't have to.

"I sure as hell don't get it, that's for sure."

All eyes snapped to the newest speaker, with the girl's eyes widening and face paling simultaneously.

Naruto finally caught up to the thieves, but while he would like to grab his money, he was far more focused on the 'other' problem.

"What? More brats?" the thug that was holding the kid muttered, annoyed. "It's past your bedtime kid, leave now before you get hurt."

The would-be shinobi narrowed his eyes, before pulling the goggles on his forehead to his eyes. Glaring at the two men. "I can say the same thing to you! Let him go, before I go over there and kick your asses!"

...

Both men guffawed at the threat, chuckling at the temerity of the kid threatening them. Their amusement was great enough that the man who held the older brother let go of him, letting him fall to the floor in a heap, allowing his younger sister to immediately hug him when she ran up to him.

Naruto continued to glare at them, before turning to look up at the rooftop of a building besides him. "Hey bastard! You want a piece of the action? Better call it now, because I won't save either of them for you!"

Both children turned to look at where the older boy was referring to, giving them a glimpse a pretty young girl with sharp features staring down at them.

She coolly regarded the whiskered boy for a moment, before waving him off.

The go ahead.

Then her eyes unerringly moved to the children, a hidden intensity in those dark orbs that neither children recognized.

"Alright!" Naruto fist-pumped, good and ready for a thrashing. "I'm gonna take these two losers out and humiliate them while doing so! Prepare yourselves!"

Finally, the two thugs stopped laughing. They brought out their bokken, completely at ease, and aimed it at the blond boy. "Then you better have a hell of a plan, brat."

A dark smirk emerged from his lips. "As a matter of fact I do."

He then put his hands together, forming a single hand seal...

An explosion of smoke erupted around him, covering his features.

As everyone else took a step back, uncertain of what the hell just happened, Sasuko just groaned and facepalmed.

It was this thing again...

As the smoke began to clear, all three males that were watching immediately froze, their eyes grew to be as wide as saucers.

A beautiful girl with long pig-tailed hair emerged, with the smoke covering up all of the naughty bits from view, striking a sexy pose.

She batted her beautiful eyes and blew a kiss.

Both thugs went stiff, their eyes rolled to the back of their heads, and then they were sent flying comically, their nosebleeds acting like propellers. Sending them further away and crashing to the ground with a lot of force.

...

"That was terrible." Sasuko said bluntly, as the oiroke no jutsu did it's dirty work.

Naruto released the jutsu, giving his partner a thumbs up. "No worries! One day I'll make a version for girls too! Look out for it...I just need to experiment around a little."

The Uchiha shivered, that was a genuinely scary thought...

The children gaped at the blond, with the older brother subtly trying to wipe away the bit of blood that rolled down his nose. "...Just who are you people?"

Both shinobi-in-training turned to look at the children, giving them blank looks for a split-second.

Naruto opened his mouth to answer the younger boy.

But he was cut off before he could do so.

"Students." Sasuko said, giving her partner a heavy stare.

The blond clamped his mouth shut, but he still stuck his tongue out in defiance.

The little boy got up slowly, bowing once he managed to do so. "Thank you...you really saved us back there. We honestly can't thank you guys enough."

"No worries." the orange-loving boy assured, moving past them to get to the thug's bodies and grab his wallet. "I saw you guys getting bullied, and I don't like bullies. It's as simple as that."

Both sets of eyes trailed after the spiky-haired youth, before their attention shifted again.

"Hey, you."

The boy turned around to look up at the raven-haired girl, confused. "Uh...me?"

She nodded, eyes intense. "...Are you two related?"

Both children turned to one another, then turned to her, nodding. "Yep, we're siblings. I'm the older brother and this is my younger sister."

Sasuko continued to watch the two kids, an unreadable expression on her face. "I see...where's your parents?"

The little girl answered this time. "We're orphans, neither of us remember having parents."

The Uchiha didn't ask anymore questions, she simply continued to stare at the duo. In fact, she began to stare through them, as if she was in her own little world.

That was the scene that Naruto walked back to, whistling a jaunty tune as he made his way back to everyone else, only catching on to the atmosphere when he closed the distance.

"Naruto."

Blue eyes blinked.

Sasuko turned to him, eyes unreadable, as she spoke up again. "Naruto."

This time he openly gaped, did she just...?

Also, there was a certain...tone in her voice that clued him in on what she was implying, on what she was asking.

It was a demand, a request, a plea.

Then her eyes shifted to the children. "They're orphans."

He understood immediately.

The blond was more than a little inclined to help anyways after that tidbit of information was given to him, given his own past...

Naruto shook his head, none of that now.

He quickly took out his precious Gama-chan and opened it, emptying it's contents down to the amount he originally had before their misadventures in the gambling house.

Too bad...he would have liked to get a month's worth of ramen...but there were some things that were worth giving up a bit of extra ramen for.

"Here." Naruto offered, handing out the large wad of cash to the younger boy.

Said child gaped at the amount, eyes traveling to his fellow male's eyes. "...Are you serious? Truly? You'd give us this much ryō for free?"

The shinobi-in-training shrugged. "I won all of that while gambling, no worries. It's not like it's going to hurt my finances or anything."

Before the boy could say anything, Naruto turned to his younger sister, a teasing glint in his eye. "But, just as a friendly tip, you should probably make sure that the money that your sister finds is...actually lost, ya know?"

The boy's eyes snapped to the Academy student, then to his frog-shaped wallet, then to his sister.

She had the grace to turn away, embarrassed. "...I'm sorry...I was just desperate and-"

A pat on the head cut her off, it's owner smirking at her.

"It's alright, I get that sometimes you are gonna be a little desperate. Although...to be honest, if you were a little older, I'd probably hit you at least once. But no worries, I'm sure that your nii-chan will take over for me."

The little girl looked up, confused, before feeling someone else place their hand on her head, an intense pressure behind it.

She began to sweat slightly. "Ah...onii-chan...wait...let's talk about this..."

The older boy just offered her a tight smile. "Don't worry, we'll have plenty to talk about when we get home."

All she could do in response was grow pale and start shivering, internally promising not to do something like this a second time.

With that, the two bowed to their saviors, thanking them heartily, and began their trek back home.

"Wait."

The boy stopped, turning around to look at the black-haired girl.

Sasuko stared at him, eyes narrowed, critical. "Don't let your imouto down."

Naruto gave his partner a sidelong glance, raising an eyebrow in interest.

Meanwhile, the boy nodded, completely assured in that he wouldn't, before turning to lead his family away.

The two students watched them go, both of them silent as the cool breeze shifted their clothes in accordance to the wind.

"...Why'd you help them?" Naruto eventually asked, genuinely curious.

The girl beside him wasn't exactly known for helping others out of the kindness of her heart, if anything, she was known for being apathetic. So this was more than a little strange of her.

The Uchiha continued to watch the children leave, especially as another image began to replace the two kids with another pair...

A memory, of times long past.

Of two children, with black hair and pale skin.

An older brother and his younger sister.

"A whim." she whispered, words nearly lost to the wind as another breeze picked up.

Blue eyes traced her facial features, uncertain, before turning to the sky.

"It's getting late." Naruto noted. "We should be getting back soon. Ready?"

Sasuko finally teared her eyes away from the children, turning her own eyes to her partner. "Usuratonkachi."

Fighting words.

"W-!? You! Even now you're trying to start a fight with me, huh!?" the blond exploded, eyes literally burning with anger.

"Thank you."

Naruto's fire was immediately quenched, completely caught off guard by the words and attitude of the usually arrogant girl.

He turned away, pouting, but he felt kind of happy that she would actually thank him...

"But you're still an idiot."

Annnnnnd she ruined it again.

"...Tch! You're a real bastard, you know that?" he grumbled, jumping on top of the rooftop to get back to their class.

Sasuko unwittingly allowed a small smirk to adorn her face.

The two students made their way back, found their class, got chewed out, and made their way back to the village in due time.

This would be among the last times that either of the young would-be shinobi would be able to simply relax throughout their day without any overarching problem looming over them.

The graduation test was fast approaching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The middle-aged owner of the gambling house groaned as he regained consciousness, shaking his head from the cobwebs that he obtained while down.

What happened...?

Then the memories rushed back to him, causing his eyes to widen as he frantically looked around for the child-devil.

He was gone.

His friend too, but he couldn't really remember the girl...she was a quiet one.

How was he knocked out though?

"I see that you're awake. Good."

The man jumped, snapping his head to the source of the voice.

On top of the crap table was a young man, leaning on it casually as he flashed the establishment owner a dark grin. "I see you've met the power of Konoha's worst ninja, hm?"

The middle-aged man got up, warily eyeing the other man with suspicon. "...What do you mean? Who are you?"

Mizuki grinned at the tool's wariness. "The name's Mizuki, and I'm here to make a potential partner. You see...you've just fought Uzumai Naruto; the worst ninja that Konoha has got. And his mission was specifically set to ruin your reputation, as well as many others who are aligned with your crime boss."

The ninja watched as his prey twitched at the rush of information, paling considerably at the thought.

He knew how crime bosses worked, they often ruled by fear and intimidation. Never allowing any of their underlings to be shamed or intimidated by other groups or outside forces for fear of unraveling their own power. So if word got out that this man was defeated by an incredibly weak ninja...then he'd be too weak to tolerate for his crime boss.

He'd be eliminated, to be used as an example for others.

The shinobi never thought that he'd have such a golden opportunity here, but when he saw the two children leave the establishment in a rush, he decided to see what mess they left behind.

Who knew that this could just what he needed for his plan?

"I myself have a grudge against this ninja, but my loyalty to my village prevents me from dirtying my own hand to eliminate him...so when I found out about this mission...well...I realized that I found my answer to my problems." the chūnin continued, smoothly forging a believable story to feed his prey's fears and insecurities.

The underling grit his teeth at the information. "But...if what you say is true...then who ordered the strike? Who could have possibly-?"

"Gatō." the shinobi answered, feigning his sympathy. "You know how crime bosses work...they try to cut each other out in the knees, which means aiming for the lower tier supporters."

Before the middle-aged man could question anything, Mizuki offered a hand to him. Using the fact that the rush of information was still processing for him, intentionally keeping him too disoriented to think clearly.

"This is something we both wish for, isn't it? You'd like to keep the cushy job while I'd like to finally get revenge on someone that I hate. I'll provide the intelligence and the access while you do the deed...while still getting handsomely paid for it. Whereas, if you don't, then you will prove to your boss that you aren't worth the effort. You don't need to stop him from telling others that he beat you, you just need to take him out to show that you mean business. What do you say?"

The gambling house owner stared at the hand for a heartbeat.

Then he took the hand, a grim look in his eye.

If he had to kill a kid in order to protect his livelihood, then so be it.

Meanwhile, Mizuki was more than a little smug. Now he had a plausible scapegoat to utilize when he abandoned the village. A way to get rid of the kyuui-brat and to buy himself some time to get away.

All he needed to do now...was wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, this is my official debut to ao3! So I hope to make a somewhat decent splash while I'm here. :P
> 
> Also, if anyone recognizes this story, yes, I am submitting this same story in my fanfiction.net account, so I am not plagiarizing myself. Just an FYI. :3
> 
> Alrighty, on to the next chapter!
> 
> -RekkingPride


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